FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com august 25, 2016 • TIMES 15 Law Offices Of Irina Yadgarova, PLLC Phone: 347-699-5529 Main Office: 63-50 Wetherole Street Rego Park, NY 11374 www.YadgarovaLaw.com How can I qualify for Medicaid if I’m retired but my spouse is working? We often get calls in the office from clients who are in their late 60s or older who have high medical expenses that Medicare doesn’t fully cover. Sometimes they are in need of nursing home care, home care such as a home health aide or are simply fed up with constant co-pays and medical bills. However, their spouses are working and the income in the household is higher than the Medicaid permissible threshold. Nevertheless, the non-working (“community spouse”) can often qualify for Medicaid because their spouse can actually formally refuse to support them financially by signing a “spousal refusal”. This sounds rather cold and many folks have a hard time digesting the concept of a devoted, caring spouse signing a “spousal refusal” document so that the spouse in need of Medicaid can become eligible. Nevertheless, the reality is such that a working or high income spouse can sign this “spousal refusal” form to be submitted along with the Medicaid application for the qualifying spouse. This is actually a typical way of applying for Medicaid and HRA, (the Human Resources Administration that processes Medicaid applications in NYC) and DSS (the Departments of Social Services that process Medicaid applications in Long Island and the rest of New Yok) have routinely been approving for many years. The meaning of the refusal is that the working spouse’s income will not be counted against the Medicaid applicant spouse. In fact, depending on the specifics of the couple’s earnings, some of the Medicaid applicant’s income can even be shifted to the community spouse. Likewise, the Spousal Refusal can be coupled with a sometimes necessary Pooled Trust that is used to shelter excess income (see my earlier Articles concerning Pooled Trusts on www.YadgarovaLaw. com for details). This same concept can be applied to the couple’s assets and so the community spouse can be eligible for and receive Medicaid even if the working spouse has a rather significant amount of assets. For example, in New York in the year 2016, the working spouse can keep up to the greater of $74,820 or one-half of the couple’s total combined assets up to $115,920 Whether or not Medicaid will attempt to recover any income or assets from the refusing spouse (i.e. sue the spouse for refusing to support) largely depends on the amount of income/assets that the refusing spouse keeps. Anything higher than the above described asset limit will likely be recovered by Medicaid at least to some extent, as well as some income above $2,980.50 per month (depending on how much of the excess income belongs to the refusing spouse vs. the community spouse). Attorney Advertisement METRO CASH 4 GOLD STOP BY, WE BUY AND SELL GOLD & DIAMONDS HIGHEST PRICES PAID! IMMEDIATE CASH! OLD WATCHES CAN BE WORTH A FORTUNE IN CASH! Cartier • Breitling • Rolex • Patek Philippe • Hublot and Many More Dont Sell Before You Get Our Free Price Quote 65-50 METROPOLITAN AVENUE, MIDDLE VILLAGE 718-386-4440 33 YEARS EXPERIENCE OPEN: MONDAY THRU SATURDAY Mark V. Burke, MD, FAAFP 87-47 Myrtle Avenue, Glendale 718-849-8609 Primary Care and Chronic Disease Management *Only $100 for Employment/CDLPhysicals (testing@ add’l cost) No Fault Accepted Drug Testing/Addiction Treatment offered (Counselor Available) Prompt Appointments Available Open until 10pm Thursdays Cleaning & Maintenance Where perfection is not an accident! 718-894-0400 Magic Touch Cleaning & Maintenance provides quality service to all customers. No jobs are too big or too small. Commercial and Residential Cleaning and Maintenance Specialists in cleaning all types of awnings and canopies. SERVICES INCLUDE: •Sidewalk Restoration •Gum Removal •Vinyl Floors Stripping •Vinyl Floors Waxing •Tile Floor Restoration •Grout Restoration •Graffiti Removal •Window Cleaning •Bird (Pigeon) Control •Construction Clean-up •House Detailing •Office Cleaning •Light Bulb Maintenance •Power Washing •Carpet Cleaning •Property Maintenance •Parking Lot Maintenance •Snow Plowing Ask for our Specials on Office Cleaning. ****10% Discount with this ad**** 60-68 Metropolitan ave., ridgewood, nY
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